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LIVE: The opening of the 28th AU summit
The scourge of terrorism on the continent
At the 28th AU summit African leaders will also engage with a number of peace and security issues on the continent. This includes the modalities for deploying the regional protection force for South Sudan, the post-conflict reconstruction effort in the Central African Republic and the political instability in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Guinea-Bissau.
AU leaders will also devote attention to the growing scourge of terrorism on the continent, which featured prominently in the Peace and Security Council’s (PSC) deliberations in 2015. In the Lake Chad Basin, the AU supported the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), which has made notable progress in mitigating the threat posed by Boko Haram. In Mali, however, various armed groups continue to take advantage of the limited presence of the government in the north of the country, as well as the on-going political instability, to carry out jihadist attacks. These attacks occur not only in Mali but also across the Sahel. The AU is yet to make further statements on the proposed African force within the UN Mission for Mali to combat the worsening threat of terrorism in the Sahel.
In Libya, political instability and the presence of the Islamic State continue to worsen the insecurity in the region. The AU is yet to initiate the proposed national dialogue for reconciliation in Libya as indicated by AU Peace and Security Commissioner Smaïl Chergui at the 27th AU summit in Kigali.
The threat posed by al-Shabaab in Somalia also remains significant. As the AU Mission in Somalia plans an exit by 2020, it is expected that the mission will be reinforced to empower the newly elected government to neutralise al-Shabaab.
The AU-led Regional Task Force for the elimination of the Lord’s Resistance Army faces financial and human resource constraints that limit its ability to address the on-going threats posed by the extremist group in Central Africa.
The AU will have to foster effective dialogue among states and empower African forces to eliminate the growing threat of terrorism on the continent.
Operationalising the African Standby Force
The AU Assembly is yet to endorse the full operational capability of the African Standby Force (ASF) as declared by the Specialised Technical Committee on Defence, Safety and Security (STCDSS) and the African Chiefs of Defence Staff and Heads of Safety and Security (ACDSS) of the AU. Endorsing the full operational capability of the ASF is key to garnering the required political support needed for the deployment of the force in a crisis if and when the need arises.
The STCDSS and ACDSS declarations are based on the successful conduct of the AMANI-Africa II field training exercise in December 2015 as well as a series of command exercises. Four regional economic communities and regional mechanisms (RMs), with the exception the RM in the north, have also confirmed the full operational capability of the ASF.
At the upcoming summit, the AU is also expected to endorse the Maputo Strategic Five-Year Work Plan (2016–2020) on the ASF as the continental body plans to ‘silence the guns’ by 2020.
The summit also provides an opportunity for the AU to consider the synergies between the ASF and the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises to avoid investing in parallel mechanisms.
Morocco says more African states back bid to rejoin AU
Morocco has obtained the “unconditional support” of 42 members of the 54-strong African Union to rejoin the bloc at a summit which opens Monday, a senior Moroccan diplomat said.
AU member states are expected to mull Morocco’s bid to rejoin during a two-day summit in Addis Ababa, and elect a new chairperson.
Morocco quit the bloc 33 years ago to protest the AU’s decision to accept Western Sahara as a member, but it now wants back in and King Mohammed VI has been criss-crossing the continent lobbying for support.
“We’ve received the official backing of Ghana. This brings to 42 the number of countries that unconditionally support Morocco,” the diplomat told AFP Sunday from Addis Ababa.
Morocco’s return could be a financial boon for the bloc, which relies on foreign donors for some 70 percent of its budget, according to the Institute for Security Studies.
But heavyweights such as Algeria and South Africa have been lobbying hard to keep Morocco out.
Both countries back the fight for self-determination by Western Sahara’s Polisario independence movement.
Morocco maintains that the former Spanish colony, which it annexed in 1975, is an integral part of the kingdom.
United Nations resolutions have called for a referendum on self-determination in the disputed territory.
While Morocco did not officially raise any pre-conditions for joining the AU – such as the expulsion of the RASD – events at the Africa-Arab summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in November 2016 showed that the coexistence of the two states within the AU would be complicated. In Malabo, Morocco and nine Arab countries had walked out of the summit in protest at the presence of the RASD at the meeting.
Additional report : AFP
